The present invention relates to a mirror which can be effectively used when a small or occluded area is examined. Specifically, the present invention directly relates to a dental mirror which is used for diagnosing, treating or observing an intraoral healthy or diseased portion of a patient.
When a small area, specifically the intraoral cavity, is examined in order to diagnose, treat, or observe a diseased portion, there are several portions of the teeth which are very hard to be treated/observed without a mirror. These areas include posterior teeth in general, the distal sides of the teeth, and the lingual sides of the teeth. Conventionally, a lighting device is provided at the upper front area of a dental chair and the externally illuminating light is directed into an intraoral cavity of a patient. A dental professional (such as a dentist, dental hygienist, or dental assistant) will then manipulate a conventional type of a dental mirror to reflect the externally illuminating light to a portion of the tooth which is about to be examined so that the diseased portion can be reflected and displayed on a conventional type of dental mirror. The aforementioned type of dental mirror is made of either a metal or plastic holding stem. The reflecting mirror portion (which is made of either a plastic coated mirror or glass coated mirror) and the holding stem are formed as a unified structure. Prior to a diagnosing use with each patient, the unified structure of the dental mirror is conventionally sterilized either by an autoclave heating area high temperature and high pressure or immersing the dental mirror in an antiseptic liquid. Due to the current situation, such as intrahospital infection and/or AIDS, the whole structure of the dental mirror can be made of plastic and used as a disposable dental mirror.
Using the aforementioned dental mirror, the dentist must display a diseased portion of the teeth of a patient on a mirror portion by aid of the externally reflected light which must be illuminated on the mirror surface while the dentist manipulates the mirror at an incident angle and distance from the externally illuminating light source/device. Accordingly, providing an appropriate setting of the externally illuminating light device and reflecting surface of the dental mirror is mandatory for performing an accurate dental diagnosis and/or treatment.
As a result, a dentist requires skill to manipulate the dental mirror. There could exist a portion, in particularly the posterior teeth in general, and the distal and lingual sides of teeth, where the reflecting light cannot reach. In some cases, a dentist""s head might block the illuminating light into the intraoral cavity of a patient since the illuminating light is coming from above his head. On such an occasion, the reflecting angle of the external light is subjected to fine adjustment in order to maintain clear examination of the diseased portion. When fine adjusting the incident angle of the external lighting device, however, the illuminating light will irradiate a patient""s face. Hence, in many cases, not only a dentist but also a patient might be blinded by the reflecting light or discomforted by the brightness of the light and heat generated by the reflecting light.
Additionally, the conventional type of dental mirror becomes foggy due mainly to high humidity and temperature of the inhaled air during respiration activity of a patient when the mirror is inserted into the patient""s mouth. Accordingly, once the surface of the dental mirror becomes foggy, it becomes very difficult to diagnose or treat appropriately and observe clearly the diseased portion of the teeth in a foggy mirror. When the dental mirror gets foggy, the dentist removes the mirror from the patient""s mouth, wipes and dries the moisture before reinserting the mirror into the patient""s mouth.
As discussed above, the fine adjustment of the reflecting light to shine the light on the diseased portion of the teeth and cleaning/drying of the foggy surface of dental mirrors are inconvenient for dentists. Hence the development of a fogless mirror with a built-in illumination system has been needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,904 issued on Aug. 12, 1997 to M. Usui and Y. Oshida discloses a dental mirror which is characterized by the rear side of the mirror being situated inside a concave-shaped canister filled with substances which can generate appropriate heat to prevent a foggy condition on the front surface of the dental mirror when the mirror is exposed to a high humid intraoral environment. Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,132 issued on Apr. 21, 1998 to M. Usui, Y. Oshida, and S. Hata, discloses a mirror for dental examination which is characterized by the rear side of the mirror being kept inside a concave-shaped hollow structure in which an illuminating light source and heating source are installed, so that the front surface of the mirror can be lit and will not become foggy.
However, there are additional problems to be solved with a dental mirror. When a tooth structure is treated using a dental drill to prepare a restoration treatment, chips and debris of a tooth structure will cover the dental mirror. This dust further obstructs clear observation and proper treatment. Again when the surface of the dental mirror is covered with these particles, a dentist has to remove the mirror from the patients mouth, clean it and reinsert it. This additional task is inconvenient for both a patient and a dentist and causes chair-side time with unnecessarily proloned and unconscious fatigue. However, these problems are not solved by the prior art, such as the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,655,904 and 5,741,132.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mirror for examining a small area (specifically, an intraoral cavity) which prevents a foggy surface when the mirror is used in a high humid intraoral environment and a particle-free surface when a tooth structure is mechanically treated, and includes a built-in reflecting light device to illuminate the diseased portion of the intraoral cavity so that both patient and dentist will not be blinded by light and will not feel discomfort due to the heat generated by the external light and dental performance (including diagnosing, treating, and observing the diseased tooth structure). Accordingly, the present invention provides a fog-free and particle-free mirror with a built-in light for examining a small area, including an intraoral cavity.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object of the present invention, an examination unit which is to be inserted in an intraoral cavity to examine a diseased portion is provided at the distal end portion of a holding stem member which is held by a dentist while the dentist is operating the mirror alone or treating a tooth using a dental device by the other hand simultaneously. The mirror of the invention for a dental examination is used for diagnosing and treating the diseased portion of the mouth (particularly teeth) by an aid of the examination unit and is further characterized by comprising (1) a built-in light illuminating means to supply an illuminating light onto a diseased portion so that the diseased portion can be observed on the mirror by virtue of light being reflected on mirror surface, (2) a mirror portion which is rotated by a built-in battery-driven motor, and (3) a holding stem portion in which a battery, motor connecting mechanics, an on/off switch, and a rotating speed controlling mechanism are built in.
The present mirror for dental examination is moreover characterized by the lighting means which can be a micro-bulb, optical fiber, light emission diode (LED) or the like.
Furthermore, the mirror of the invention for dental examinations is characterized by a battery supply, or other power source, as an electric power source to the lighting means and a motor which indirectly rotates the dental mirror. The battery can be an replaceable dry battery or a rechargeable battery.